Man Hunt (1941 film)
Encyclopedia
Man Hunt is a 1941
American thriller film directed by Fritz Lang
and starring Walter Pidgeon
and Joan Bennett
. It is based on the 1939 novel Rogue Male
by Geoffrey Household
and is set just prior to the Second World War. A Jewish liberal, Lang had fled Germany into exile in the mid 1930s - this was the first of his four anti-Nazi movies. It was Roddy McDowall's first Hollywood film, having been evacuated across the Atlantic following the London Blitz
.
) slips through the forest undetected near the Berghof
, Adolf Hitler
's residence near Berchtesgaden
. Getting the dictator in his telescopic sight
, he pulls the trigger on his unloaded rifle and gives a wave. He ponders a moment, then loads a live round, but is discovered at the last second by a guard, and the shot goes wild.
After being beaten up, Thorndike is taken to Major Quive-Smith (George Sanders
). Quive-Smith is also a devoted hunter and an admirer of Thorndike. Thorndike explains that it was a "sporting stalk", not to kill, but just for the thrill of going after the biggest game of all. The Nazi half-believes him, but insists he sign a confession that he was in fact working for His Majesty's government. When Thorndike refuses, he is tortured, but remains steadfast and warns of "questions being asked in high places" if he is killed, as his brother, Lord Risborough (Frederick Worlock), is a very important diplomat. The phrase gives Quive-Smith the idea to have Thorndike thrown off a cliff to make his death look like an accident.
Thorndike survives when his knapsack gets caught in a tree, breaking his fall. He eludes his German pursuers and reaches a port. He steals a rowboat, but is forced to abandon it hastily when a patrol boat comes near. He swims to a Danish ship about to sail for London. Vaner (Roddy McDowall
), the English cabin boy
, helps Thorndike hide. The Germans find Thorndike's coat and passport aboard the rowboat and search the nearby ship. Though they find nothing, they place agent Mr. Jones (John Carradine
) on board using Thorndike's passport to continue looking even after the ship leaves the harbour.
Jones is met by German agents in London. Thorndike, mistakenly believing he is now safe, casually debarks and is spotted. He manages to shake off his pursuers by ducking into the apartment of Jerry Stokes (Joan Bennett
), a young woman. Jerry lends him money so he can reach his brother.
When Lord Risborough tells his brother that the British government, continuing its pre-war policy of appeasement, would have to extradite
him if he were found, Thorndike decides to hide in Africa. Jerry tries to refuse a large cash reward, leading Lady Risborough (Heather Thatcher
) to assume that it is payment for other services, but Thorndike insists. He also buys her a new hatpin, as she had lost hers when they first met. She chooses a cheap chromium arrow and insists Thorndike present it to her. Thorndike likens it to her, saying both are "straight and shiny". By this point, Jerry is in love.
Quive-Smith arrives in London to join the hunt. When Thorndike calls on his solicitor, Saul Farnsworthy (Holmes Herbert
), the Nazis are once again on his trail. Chased into a London Underground
station, Thorndike struggles with Jones, who is killed when he is thrown onto an electrified rail.
Thorndike tells Jerry to have Lord Risborough send him a letter in three weeks time care of Lyme Regis
Post Office. As in the novel, Thorndike hides in a cave. However, when he goes to pick up the letter, the postmistress (Eily Malyon
) seems alarmed and sends a girl on an errand. Thorndike grabs the letter and beats a hasty retreat. Back at his cave, he finds the letter is from Quive-Smith, who has followed him to his lair.
Quive-Smith seals the only entrance and passes his quarry the confession and a pen through an air hole, threatening to leave him trapped inside. Quive-Smith also slides in Jerry's beret with the arrow pin, informing Thorndike that she was thrown out a window to her death when she would not betray him. They only discovered Thorndike's location through the address he had written down for her. Badgered by the Nazi, the grief-stricken Thorndike finally admits that he subconsciously intended to assassinate Hitler after all. He then agrees to sign the confession. Quive-Smith unblocks the entrance, but waits to shoot him as he crawls out. Thorndike however has other plans; he uses his belt, a slat from his bed, and a stick to fabricate a bow, using Jerry's pin as the tip of a makeshift arrow, and shoots the German through the air hole. When Thorndike emerges, Quive-Smith manages to wound him before dying. By the time he recovers, the war has started.
Thorndike joins the R.A.F.
as a Bomber Command
crewman. On a mission over Germany, Thorndike unexpectedly parachutes into the Reich with his hunting rifle to finish what he had started.
to attract the attention of the then neutral America's Hays Office. Joseph Breen was alarmed by the script when he read it in 1941 calling it a "hate film". Breen felt in the Isolationist atmosphere of 1941 America the film showed all Germans as evil unlike other films showing both good non-Nazi Germans as well as evil National Socialists. Breen insisted that the Germans could not be characterised as so brutal; the office would only pass the film if it would only "indicate" brutality rather than show it. Therefore cuts did not show Thorndike's torture but left it in the mind of the audience.
Darryl F. Zanuck
was also worried about Lang's anti-Nazi enthusiasm and banned him from the editing room. However Lang and his associate Gene Fowler, Jr. secretly edited the film without Zanuck's approval.
The film features an instrumental version of "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" by Eric Maschwitz, Manning Sherwin, and Jack Strachey as a recurring romantic theme.
1941 in film
The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...
American thriller film directed by Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
and starring Walter Pidgeon
Walter Pidgeon
Walter Davis Pidgeon was a Canadian actor, who starred in many motion pictures, including Mrs...
and Joan Bennett
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film and television actress. Besides acting on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies well into the sound era...
. It is based on the 1939 novel Rogue Male
Rogue Male (novel)
Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household is a classic thriller novel of the 1930s.-Storyline:The protagonist, an unnamed British sportsman, sets out to see whether he can stalk and prepare to shoot a European dictator...
by Geoffrey Household
Geoffrey Household
Geoffrey Edward West Household was a prolific British novelist who specialized in thrillers. He is best known for his novel Rogue Male .-Personal life:...
and is set just prior to the Second World War. A Jewish liberal, Lang had fled Germany into exile in the mid 1930s - this was the first of his four anti-Nazi movies. It was Roddy McDowall's first Hollywood film, having been evacuated across the Atlantic following the London Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
.
Plot
On July 29, 1939, renowned British big game hunter Captain Alan Thorndike (Walter PidgeonWalter Pidgeon
Walter Davis Pidgeon was a Canadian actor, who starred in many motion pictures, including Mrs...
) slips through the forest undetected near the Berghof
Berghof (Hitler)
The Berghof was Adolf Hitler's home in the Obersalzberg of the Bavarian Alps near Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany. Other than the Wolfsschanze in East Prussia, Hitler spent more time at the Berghof than anywhere else during World War II. It was also one of the most widely known of Hitler's...
, Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's residence near Berchtesgaden
Berchtesgaden
Berchtesgaden is a municipality in the German Bavarian Alps. It is located in the south district of Berchtesgadener Land in Bavaria, near the border with Austria, some 30 km south of Salzburg and 180 km southeast of Munich...
. Getting the dictator in his telescopic sight
Telescopic sight
A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope, is a sighting device that is based on an optical refracting telescope. They are equipped with some form of graphic image pattern mounted in an optically appropriate position in their optical system to give an accurate aiming point...
, he pulls the trigger on his unloaded rifle and gives a wave. He ponders a moment, then loads a live round, but is discovered at the last second by a guard, and the shot goes wild.
After being beaten up, Thorndike is taken to Major Quive-Smith (George Sanders
George Sanders
George Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
). Quive-Smith is also a devoted hunter and an admirer of Thorndike. Thorndike explains that it was a "sporting stalk", not to kill, but just for the thrill of going after the biggest game of all. The Nazi half-believes him, but insists he sign a confession that he was in fact working for His Majesty's government. When Thorndike refuses, he is tortured, but remains steadfast and warns of "questions being asked in high places" if he is killed, as his brother, Lord Risborough (Frederick Worlock), is a very important diplomat. The phrase gives Quive-Smith the idea to have Thorndike thrown off a cliff to make his death look like an accident.
Thorndike survives when his knapsack gets caught in a tree, breaking his fall. He eludes his German pursuers and reaches a port. He steals a rowboat, but is forced to abandon it hastily when a patrol boat comes near. He swims to a Danish ship about to sail for London. Vaner (Roddy McDowall
Roddy McDowall
Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude "Roddy" McDowall was an English actor and photographer. His film roles included Cornelius and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes film series...
), the English cabin boy
Cabin boy
A Cabin boy or ship's boy is a boy who waits on the officers and passengers of a ship, especially running errands for the captain....
, helps Thorndike hide. The Germans find Thorndike's coat and passport aboard the rowboat and search the nearby ship. Though they find nothing, they place agent Mr. Jones (John Carradine
John Carradine
John Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
) on board using Thorndike's passport to continue looking even after the ship leaves the harbour.
Jones is met by German agents in London. Thorndike, mistakenly believing he is now safe, casually debarks and is spotted. He manages to shake off his pursuers by ducking into the apartment of Jerry Stokes (Joan Bennett
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film and television actress. Besides acting on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies well into the sound era...
), a young woman. Jerry lends him money so he can reach his brother.
When Lord Risborough tells his brother that the British government, continuing its pre-war policy of appeasement, would have to extradite
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
him if he were found, Thorndike decides to hide in Africa. Jerry tries to refuse a large cash reward, leading Lady Risborough (Heather Thatcher
Heather Thatcher
Heather Thatcher was an English actress in theatre and motion pictures. She was from London.-Dancer:By 1922 Thatcher was a dancer. She was especially noted for her interpretation of an Egyptian harem dance. Her exotic clothes were designed in Russia. They featured stencil slits in the waist,...
) to assume that it is payment for other services, but Thorndike insists. He also buys her a new hatpin, as she had lost hers when they first met. She chooses a cheap chromium arrow and insists Thorndike present it to her. Thorndike likens it to her, saying both are "straight and shiny". By this point, Jerry is in love.
Quive-Smith arrives in London to join the hunt. When Thorndike calls on his solicitor, Saul Farnsworthy (Holmes Herbert
Holmes Herbert
Holmes Herbert was an English character actor who appeared in Hollywood films from 1915 to 1952.Born as 'Horace Jenner', Holmes Herbert emigrated to the United States in 1912. He was the first son of Ned Herbert , who worked as and actor/comedian in the English Theatre...
), the Nazis are once again on his trail. Chased into a London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
station, Thorndike struggles with Jones, who is killed when he is thrown onto an electrified rail.
Thorndike tells Jerry to have Lord Risborough send him a letter in three weeks time care of Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. The town lies in Lyme Bay, on the English Channel coast at the Dorset-Devon border...
Post Office. As in the novel, Thorndike hides in a cave. However, when he goes to pick up the letter, the postmistress (Eily Malyon
Eily Malyon
Eily Malyon was an English character actress in the 1930s and 1940s.Born as Eily Sophie Lees-Craston in London in 1878 or 1879. Her mother, Agnes Thomas, was also an actress...
) seems alarmed and sends a girl on an errand. Thorndike grabs the letter and beats a hasty retreat. Back at his cave, he finds the letter is from Quive-Smith, who has followed him to his lair.
Quive-Smith seals the only entrance and passes his quarry the confession and a pen through an air hole, threatening to leave him trapped inside. Quive-Smith also slides in Jerry's beret with the arrow pin, informing Thorndike that she was thrown out a window to her death when she would not betray him. They only discovered Thorndike's location through the address he had written down for her. Badgered by the Nazi, the grief-stricken Thorndike finally admits that he subconsciously intended to assassinate Hitler after all. He then agrees to sign the confession. Quive-Smith unblocks the entrance, but waits to shoot him as he crawls out. Thorndike however has other plans; he uses his belt, a slat from his bed, and a stick to fabricate a bow, using Jerry's pin as the tip of a makeshift arrow, and shoots the German through the air hole. When Thorndike emerges, Quive-Smith manages to wound him before dying. By the time he recovers, the war has started.
Thorndike joins the R.A.F.
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
as a Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
crewman. On a mission over Germany, Thorndike unexpectedly parachutes into the Reich with his hunting rifle to finish what he had started.
Cast
- Walter PidgeonWalter PidgeonWalter Davis Pidgeon was a Canadian actor, who starred in many motion pictures, including Mrs...
as Captain Thorndike - Joan BennettJoan BennettJoan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film and television actress. Besides acting on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies well into the sound era...
as Jerry - George SandersGeorge SandersGeorge Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
as Quive-Smith - John CarradineJohn CarradineJohn Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
as Mr. Jones - Roddy McDowallRoddy McDowallRoderick Andrew Anthony Jude "Roddy" McDowall was an English actor and photographer. His film roles included Cornelius and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes film series...
as Vaner - Ludwig StösselLudwig StösselLudwig Stössel was an actor born in Lockenhaus, Austria. He was one of many Jewish actors and actresses that were forced to flee Europe when the Nazis came to power in 1933....
as Doctor (as Ludwig Stossell) - Heather ThatcherHeather ThatcherHeather Thatcher was an English actress in theatre and motion pictures. She was from London.-Dancer:By 1922 Thatcher was a dancer. She was especially noted for her interpretation of an Egyptian harem dance. Her exotic clothes were designed in Russia. They featured stencil slits in the waist,...
as Lady Risborough - Frederick Worlock as Lord Risborough
- Roger ImhofRoger ImhofRoger Imhof was a film actor, vaudeville, burlesque and circus performer, sketch writer, and songwriter.-Career:...
as Captain Jensen - Egon BrecherEgon BrecherEgon Brecher was a Czechoslovakian stage actor and director who toured Austria and Germany acting on the stage, and also served as the chief director of the Stadts Theatre in Vienna, before entering the motion picture industry.-Career:Born as a son of a professor, he began to study philosophy in...
as Jeweler - Lester MatthewsLester MatthewsLester Matthews was an English actor born in Nottingham, England, UK. In his career, he made more than 180 appearances in film and on television. He was on occasion erroneously credited as Lester Mathews and especially in later years was sometimes known as Les Matthews. He died on the 6 June 1975...
as Major - Holmes HerbertHolmes HerbertHolmes Herbert was an English character actor who appeared in Hollywood films from 1915 to 1952.Born as 'Horace Jenner', Holmes Herbert emigrated to the United States in 1912. He was the first son of Ned Herbert , who worked as and actor/comedian in the English Theatre...
as Farnsworthy - Eily MalyonEily MalyonEily Malyon was an English character actress in the 1930s and 1940s.Born as Eily Sophie Lees-Craston in London in 1878 or 1879. Her mother, Agnes Thomas, was also an actress...
as Postmistress - Arno FreyArno Frey-External links:* * Brian Taves. Candidates for the National Film Registry: Fang and Claw & Tiger Fangs * on Findagrave.com...
as Police Lieutenant - Frederick Vogeding as Ambassador (as Fredrik Vogeding)
Production
Man Hunt became the first war filmWar film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
to attract the attention of the then neutral America's Hays Office. Joseph Breen was alarmed by the script when he read it in 1941 calling it a "hate film". Breen felt in the Isolationist atmosphere of 1941 America the film showed all Germans as evil unlike other films showing both good non-Nazi Germans as well as evil National Socialists. Breen insisted that the Germans could not be characterised as so brutal; the office would only pass the film if it would only "indicate" brutality rather than show it. Therefore cuts did not show Thorndike's torture but left it in the mind of the audience.
Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American producer, writer, actor, director and studio executive who played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors...
was also worried about Lang's anti-Nazi enthusiasm and banned him from the editing room. However Lang and his associate Gene Fowler, Jr. secretly edited the film without Zanuck's approval.
The film features an instrumental version of "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" by Eric Maschwitz, Manning Sherwin, and Jack Strachey as a recurring romantic theme.
See also
- Rogue MaleRogue Male (1976 film)Rogue Male is a 1976 British television film starring Peter O'Toole, based on Geoffrey Household's novel Rogue Male. Made by the BBC, it was adapted by Frederic Raphael and directed by Clive Donner, and also stars Alastair Sim, John Standing and Harold Pinter...
, the 1976 BBC television version of Household's novel - Operation FoxleyOperation FoxleyOperation Foxley was a 1944 plan to assassinate Adolf Hitler, made by the British Special Operations Executive . Although detailed preparations were made, no attempt was made to carry out the plan...
, a British Special Operations ExecutiveSpecial Operations ExecutiveThe Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
plan to assassinate Hitler in 1944
External links
- Man Hunt review at Mystery*File (David L. Vineyard)
- Man Hunt DVD review, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, May 15, 2009 (Dave KehrDave KehrDave Kehr is an American film critic. A critic at the Chicago Reader and the Chicago Tribune for many years, he writes a weekly column for The New York Times on DVD releases, in addition to contributing occasional pieces on individual films or filmmakers.-Early life and education:Dave Kehr did...
)